Please note that this essay contains spoilers for Bleach up through chapters 300+ in the manga, and episode 160+ in the anime. However, the spoilers are primarily related to Abarai Renji and I will not be discussing spoilers related to other characters or plot lines. Big thanks to Duo for the beta!
It was clear that Abarai Renji would be a major character from the moment he came to retrieve Rukia from the human world. Almost at once, he became an integral part of the Rukia plot line, and contributed his own actions and emotions to it. Renji is one of the most recognizable characters from the show, and most fans generally like him and are invested in what happens to him. However, as a main character, Renji seems to be lacking something most other main characters have not only in Bleach, but in other ongoing anime as well: the ability to win.
And yet, he retains main character status despite his losing record. It’s rare to see a main character that loses almost every battle (fillers not included) in an anime dedicated to fighting. He lost against Ichigo twice. This is to be expected, as he is the main character and if Renji had won, Ichigo would probably just be sent home, end of story. But what about Byakuya, Aizen, Yylfordt and Szayel? Well, he did win against Yylfordt, but only with a limit release that caught his opponent by surprise. It was nothing like the long, drawn-out tests of stamina we’ve come to expect from say, Ichigo or another captain. So why does the author and the audience continue to invest their time in a losing character? It’s because Renji is honest, likeable, and has everything to prove. He’s the common man in a series full of extraordinary characters that we’ve come to admire.
It is made obvious early on in the series that Renji comes from humble beginnings. He grew up in a nasty part of the Soul Society as a street urchin, but still gets accepted into the Academy as a very strong student. Even Aizen recognizes his potential. He is not the top student nor the strongest, and his kidou is really atrocious. This is something that is still evident later on in the series, as about the only thing he can do with it is blow himself up. This is really important in establishing his relationship with the audience because the author sets Renji up to be a normal guy. Sure he’s strong, but he still fails at a lot of things. It’s a character flaw that brings him back down to Earth (or as close to Earth as you can be as a dead ghostbuster) and makes him more relatable.
“Well, sure,” you might say, “but what about every other main character like, ever, with character flaws?” That is a good question. So here’s what separates Renji from the pack: he continues to lose.
Renji is one of the few characters in the series that fights more than three big cannon battles, plus a number of small skirmishes (which always end badly for him). He has gotten stronger along the way by learning Bankai and facing off against captains and Espada. However, unlike the other main characters (Ichigo, Rukia, Ishida, etc.), he has reached his limit of hidden moves to learn or display, judging from the evidence presented to us so far in the manga. Bankai is the final power for the shinigami and since Renji has achieved it, there is nothing left for him to learn. His zanpaktou has no special abilities such as elemental or illusionary ones, and it has been said in the series that it is just one of raw power.
And yet, he continues to push himself into the big leagues, trying to match other characters in strength and ability. The series continues to develop stronger powers for some characters (such as Ichigo using a Vaizard mask) or gives characters abilities that are so obscure, only a few other characters can successfully fight them (like Szayel having the power to destroy people’s insides). These are the kind of opponents that Renji, with little to no hope of developing any kind of new abilities, continues to match himself up against. Adding to the difference in strength that Renji faces, most of the stronger characters in the series, such as the captains, Aizen and the Espada, have not even shown their true potential.
Renji is very honest about his reasons for continuing what to him looks like a hopeless fight as time goes on. He wants to be stronger to support his friends, defend the Soul Society, and perhaps even win over Rukia. There are no hidden agendas like some other characters might have. Ichigo shares these noble ambitions with Renji, but Ichigo can always become stronger. As the series goes on, it is looking less like Renji can continue to grow stronger. He now needs to fight his enemies with a partner, and even that fails as he and Ishida have to be saved by someone stronger. Renji always wants to keep fighting, but is basically told the fights are not at his level anymore. And it is because Renji seems genuinely broken up about this that we empathize with him.
For Renji, the rewards for his fights, if any, are small: the knowledge that someone stronger than him can save the woman he loves; recognition from somebody much stronger than him after years of being ignored. In both of these cases, he has not accomplished anything in direct relation to advancing the plot, but he has gained some small detail that makes his sacrifice worth it to him, and to us makes his character more endearing.
In a series where most characters continue to gain amazing power and potential, Abarai Renji stays on a level plane. Despite his lack of strength, he continues to compete in a world he can’t win in because he feels it is the right thing to do. The audience and his fans can only wait and see if somehow he will become stronger. In the meantime, we find his position in the series not only humbling, but captivating as well.
